Jackie & John In Taiji Dolphins

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Monday - Love the wind!
That was as far as I got with my blog on Monday ... It has been an eventful few
days, of which a lot the Guardians had to keep to ourselves. It was really hard

for me to keep what was happening from my family and friends who care ....

but everything has been posted now by Sea Shepherd so here we go...

a quick catch up....
It's Wednesday morning, 8:12, there are 5 Guardians sitting in the harbour in
Taiji happy that the wind has kept the boats in again (love that word,

so I'll say it again ... again) One of the 5, me, is feeling a little

nervous ... (I can't speak for the others).
I have not witnessed a drive (thankfully) since John & I arrived here in

Taiji. A mixture of things have prevented it.. typhoons...festivals..high

winds and rain..

So I would have expected it to have been a quiet time here.. but these

last few days have been anything but....

Monday was windy, very windy, the boats ventured out but came back so quickly as
the sea was pitching them .. I want to say badly, but it looked really good
from where I was watching :)
The afternoon was spent at the harbour and Dolphin Base as the day

before, Sunday, we first spotted the buyer. Normally buyers cover up and try

to hide their faces but this guy was blatant. After the first sighting we would

see him a couple of times each day, he was looking at several pens so we were

anticipating a large transfer to happen.

But then the unimaginable happened... it was getting late in the day...

we had not seen any signs to indicate a transfer would happen that night ...

I was thinking of a cool shower and something to eat when suddenly the police

that were watching us got a call and ran to their car .... Nils, a fellow

Cove Guardian, had been arrested.

I can't explain how I feel because I haven't worked it out yet. I only met

Nils briefly, but what I saw I liked very much. Engaging smile and teasing

personality. I hope to stay his friend, outside of Sea Shepherd, as I do believe

this was not intentional and the regret he must be suffering knowing the

damage he's caused to the campaign will be a greater punishment than anything

Friday, 5 October 2012

I couldn't blog last night, eat or sleep (tho' I was exhausted) ...I felt too
frustrated.......
That morning we'd watched the boats struggle home in a high swell bringing us
another blue day and the mood was good with the Cove Guardians.
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the dolphin transfer from one

of the harbour pens because it's still too raw, and Sea Shepherd tells it

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

4:30am sitting by the harbour wall in Taiji...there is a beautiful moon, and so
many stars.....it's warm and still.... in fact it's everything we don't want it
to be! but we know that further out where they hunt 20+ mph winds will make the
ocean choppy and we pray this will hinder their endeavours .....
The police met us this morning as usual and when I asked if the hunters were
going out they replied yes. I thought they would, but you always hope .....
5:15am and we see them arriving. They hide from our cameras between bins and
trucks ... They dont look happy, but of course they'll know how rough the sea
will be for them..

Then off they go ... and the Cove Guardians wait begins.

6:37am Rather than go straight to the look out point John and I decided to check
on the dolphins at Dolphin Base. I suggested to John we just take the little
camera....I wasn't expecting anything to photograph as they'd cleared the crap
from the pens only yesterday.... but look at it again today!!

8:39am and we are back in the same spot at the harbour, photographing the same
fishermen who have just returned from a very choppy sea empty handed! It's a blue day.

I am so glad that I don't have more to share with you. It's just gone 9pm so time

here for lights out as the weather looks like it will be in their favour tomorrow

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

The
peaceful moment John and I were sharing yesterday overlooking the harbour lasted
all of 5 minutes as we were rounded up for a group photo at the cove.

On
route we stopped at the Dolphin Base. I hate seeing the dolphins in
these small shallow pens, but my initial reaction surprised me. Watching
them struggle to survive the typhoon the day before had been so
traumatic that I felt relief at seeing them "safe". But I can promise
you that thought quickly vanished ... When we looked closer we saw debris floating everywhere,..... plastic had blown in and got wrapped on
fins...tails were being bashed in frustration... Omg it's an awful
place.

There is only one place they should be, and that is swimming free...

With
no dolphins in the cove and the boats in the harbour it was an opportunity to
escape Taiji for a couple of hours and head to the hills for pizza. This
meal with the CGs was do different to the one on our first night. This
time people chatted happily and jokes were cracked.

I'm
here for the third time and I know how oppressive Taiji is, so I love to see people "come alive" as they escape it for a while, John and I
included.

It's Tuesday morning 5:04. We have been watching for for the dolphin
hunters to arrive since 4, the police have been to say hello and gone.
I'm drinking soup and typing this now as I have an awful feeling there
won't be time to do it later .....The cove is netted again, the sea is flat and I can't imagine for a moment they will not be hunting today...

It's now 7:50pm and I'm so very happy to be wrong ... the boats did go out, but it was a lot choppier further out to sea than we thought and, from our vantage point, we could see the 12 boats pitching over the waves ... It made me think of the dolphins in the sea pens during the typhoon, except the hunters were there by choice.

So they came back in empty handed and we were there to greet them before setting off to Dolphin Base where we sat and watched the staff cleaning the sea pens ... oh the power of social media! ...... in less than 12 hours of the picture of the dolphin with a plastic bag wrapped round it's fin went viral the staff at Dolphin Base were ensuring that there was not one item of debris left for Sea Shepherd to photograph. What worries me is how long would they have left the dolphin swimming in all that crap if Sea Shepherd had not brought it to the worlds attention.

But the crap wasn't just all around the dolphins ... I watched in horror today as a trainer put her arm down the throat of a dolphin and bring out a handful of rubbish, and then again bringing out a second handful, then opening his mouth to check it was all removed before making him do tricks for his food. But how much debris did he swallow as he struggled to survive the typhoon?? How much is in his stomach??? I had heard this happens from other Cove Guardians, but I had never witnessed it before. I hope I never do again.

The weather looks similar for tomorrow, we expect it to be choppy further out at sea where they hunt, but we don't think it is wavy enough to keep them in ... so an early night for John and I.

Monday, 1 October 2012

Ok, so yesterday morning we were anticipating the arrival on typhoon Jelawat.

Everything was fully charged, we had bottled water, food and torches... Luckily
by the time it arrived it was no longer a super typhoon, but it was still
powerful enough to do a lot of damage and whip up the oceans.
At the height of the storm, about 3pm, John and I ventured out with the other
Guardians to check on the dolphins in the sea pens. The rain was torrential
and within minutes it was through my jacket ... Luckily the jacket we had
purchased for the camera held out longer so we can share with you what we
witnessed.
I would like here to apologise to John for laughing at the camera jacket when I
saw it. I also seem to remember calling him a few names, like "silly" for buying
it.

The dolphins in the harbour pens were having a bad time, but the sea wall/ break
water afforded them a little protection. As we watched the waves breaking over
the sea wall we could only imagine how the water must have been churning in
those shallow pens and how hard they must have been fighting for every breath.
John warned me dolphins in the pens at Dolphin Base would be having a much
harder time, but I still wasn't prepared. I won't even try to describe what
they were enduring, I'll just ask you look the the video clip below and ask you
to imagine that this went on for hours and hours ..... and that this is the 17th
typhoon to hit Japan this year.
By about 7 pm last night the worst of the weather had passed and the Cove
Guardians went again to check on the dolphins. It was so dark we could only take
photographs to analyze back at the hotel, but we could see that the waters were
much calmer.
And this morning we woke to a beautiful sunny day... made even more beautiful
when the boats didn't go out hunting. I'm guessing it is because they had a lot
of work to do unsecuring their boats and putting the nets & tarps back up in the
cove. Also the weather looks ok for the next few days ....

Once we knew the boats were staying in John and I popped back to the hotel. We
skyped our 2 younger children ... I put cream on my insect bites ...and got an
hours sleep.
As I type this it's 12:22. John and I are sat on a bench looking over the
harbour enjoying a rare moment of peace. The police have just left us and we are
not meeting the other Guardians till 2pm .. so if you'll excuse us .....